Rimac planning Tesla Roadster-rival for 2018

Words: Nile Bijoux

28 Nov 2017

The Tesla Roadster debuted recently to much fanfare, touting massive performance from its electric powertrain. But Tesla is not the only firm meddling with science - Rimac are preparing a car that it reckons can take Tesla on and win.

The Croatian-based company, previously responsible for the Concept_One, has discussed the future debut of its own electric roadster. Talking to AutoGuide,
Rimac’s distributor for the Americas, Jens Sverdup, said that an electric convertible had been in the pipeline for a number of years, and could even
debut as early as next year.

Based on the Concept_One coupe, the roadster will definitely not be lacking in power. The former makes 912kW and an earth-moving 2548Nm, allowing Rimac
to claim a 0-100 time of 2.5 seconds. A top speed of 354km/h is possible apparently, with an overall range of about 124km.

These figures are notably lower than what Tesla is claiming, but chances are the numbers will improve for the yet-to-be-named roadster.

Rimac is benefiting from a $US36million investment from Camel Group, Asia’s largest battery manufacturer. $3.6million of that is also going to the Greyp
electric bicycle company. Thanks to this injection, Rimax is adding five new retailers to the US in 2018. They will carry both the Concept_One and
the new convertible.

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